Airport deer hunt under consideration again

Earlier this month the Missouri State Highway Patrol warned motorists to be on the lookout for deer. It’s advice that pilots using Hannibal Regional Airport also follow.

DANNY HENLEYdanny.henley@courierpost.com

Earlier this month the Missouri State Highway Patrol warned motorists to be on the lookout for deer. It’s advice that pilots using Hannibal Regional Airport also follow.

“We have problem,” said George Walley, a member of the Airport Advisory Board, when the topic of airport deer came up during the Board’s September meeting.

It’s not uncommon for aircraft preparing to land at Hannibal’s airport around dusk and after dark to do a fly-over of the runway before attempting to land in the hope that any deer on or near the runway will be scared off.

Staging a deer hunt remains the most discussed option. If such a hunt were to take place, it would only be open to bow hunters. No firearm hunting would be allowed.

In 2011, the last time the Airport Advisory Board discussed staging a hunt, Mark Rees, director of Public Works for the city, indicated that the Missouri Department of Conservation had given the proposal its blessing.

At September’s meeting, Rees praised the work done by Police Chief Lyndell Davis in researching the deer policies of other communities and drafting a proposal for Hannibal.

“The chief came up with a good plan,” said Rees, adding the measure was never adopted in 2011 for no better reason than it “ran out of steam.”

A point of discussion at the September meeting was the desire to see the venison taken benefitting the needy through a program such as “Share the Harvest,” which is administered by the Conservation Federation of Missouri and the Missouri Department of Conservation.

If a deer hunt takes place, Rees indicated in 2011 that the airport would not have to be shut down since hunters would be restricted to areas along the tree line, which is a significant distance from the runway.